August 2008
13 posts
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A New Man?
I had been told before the trip that going to South Africa would be a life changing experience and that I could not help but come back a different person. I had been very skeptical about how truly “different” I would end up being, but I found that after my trip I did in fact feel different. Though I am not now a completely different person, I do feel that I have learnt a lot from my...
Hamba Kakuhle
Though we faced many emotional and difficult situations while in Cape Town, saying goodbye to all the kids was perhaps the most challenging and upsetting of them all. Over the three weeks, we had formed quite a close bond with all of the kids while playing soccer with them, working with them, and laughing with them. The knowledge that it was more than likely we would never see the kids’...
White, Black, And Whatever Is Left In Between
On our first day in Cape Town during orientation, a lot of emphasis was put on accepting others, more specifically, accepting other races. We literally had to find someone of a different race, hug them, and say, “I accept you as my brother/sister.” I thought this was insane and essentially pointless, and it wasn’t until we left the Bishops campus that I understood the importance...
Where To Start???
One major mental obstacle that my community service group as a whole had to overcome was accepting that we had neither the funding nor the time to fix the entire school. We were given a list of areas that needed fixing and our initial reaction was lets do it all. People were saying, “I want to leave having really changed something,” and it took a while to realize that simply by being...
July 2008
16 posts
Not So Similar
Though I am glad that the kids and I shared some common ground, I believe the community service would’ve been far less entertaining and enjoyable had it not been for the vast difference in culture.
On our first day, we were taught a dance that was easily mastered by five year old South Africans in seconds but took me hours to even finish. Everyone I met seemed to be an expert in singing...
Have You Ever Heard Of . . . ?
Trying to have conversations and interactions with children who on most levels you could never relate to was at times very challenging. The division became apparent in seconds, and not just because of skin color. Barriers such as language, culture, and economic status made all first encounters very uncomfortable.
When we first arrived it was raining and since most of the service work we wanted...
Community Service With A Convict
The Amy Biehl Foundation was started by Linda and Peter Biehl after their daughter, who was in South Africa fighting the Apartheid government, was killed by a black mob who associated the color of her skin with the government that had oppressed them for so long.
I decided that from the 4 community service site options, the after-school program that this foundation ran would suit me best. After...
1st World vs. 3rd World???
On the second day in Cape Town, we were posed the question “Is Cape Town a 1st world or 3rd world city?” I felt that Cape Town was more like a 1st world city because I had seen so many indications of wealth such as expensive cars, expensive houses, skyscrapers, and a general high standard of living.
I knew there were bad areas, but that is the case in many cities. I later discovered...
First Impressions
The morning after we arrived, I woke up to the beautiful sight of Table Mountain and bright sunshine. I didn’t know what to expect when we were flying to Cape Town. I knew of the poverty throughout South Africa, but I thought that a major city such as Cape Town would not have the expansive shanty towns that were common in other parts of the country. The private school Bishops where we stayed...
